Medicaid
How To Care For Two Parents at Once Without Going Broke
“The biggest challenge of all is holding onto your patience.”
Reprinted from Money Magazine
For years, Madeleine Smithberg has been at the forefront of American comedy as co-creator of “The Daily Show” and a talent coordinator for “Late Show with David Letterman.”
That sense of humor was especially handy during the last few years. That is because Smithberg had to cope with not one, but two elderly parents in rapid decline.
“It’s heartbreaking,” says Smithberg, 56, who heads a production company in Los Angeles. “And yet it’s invisible, because nobody talks about it.”
“It’s like having toddlers,” says Smithberg, whose father passed away in 2014 after she moved her parents to Los Angeles. “They’re hot, they’re cold, they’re hungry, they ask repetitive questions, and their needs become the most important thing in the world at that second… The biggest challenge of all is holding onto your patience.”
According to a new study by Northwestern Mutual, the childrearing comparison is apt: 59% of Americans feel that taking care of two parents between ages 85 and 90 would be even harder than handling two kids between ages 3 and 5.
Caregivers may also have kids of their own. In that case, it’s not just the “Sandwich Generation” – it’s a Triple-Decker.
The Northwestern Mutual report found that 38% of those surveyed have not planned at all for handling the financial burdens of caring for elderly parents.
The costs can be gigantic: National median costs for an assisted-living facility are now $43,200 annually, according to insurer Genworth Financial in its annual Cost of Care study. A private room in a nursing home? $91,250.
That is more than enough to blow up any financial plan. The following is advice on how to care for your parents without going bankrupt yourself.
Long-Term Care
“Long-term care, long-term care, long-term care.” That’s the simple advice from Smithberg. Her father had taken out coverage for himself and his wife, which she calls “the best thing he ever did.”
Long-term care insurance covers expenses for nursing home or home care if you become incapacitated – most of which is not covered by Medicare. The coverage, like the care, can be extremely expensive, and to be sure, it did not cover all of Smithberg’s parents’ assisted-living costs. But, combined with their own life savings, the policy has meant that she has not yet had to dip into her own savings to pay for their care.
Have the Talk
With the holidays right around the corner, it is one of the few times of year when far-flung families tend to gather in one place. Don’t let the opportunity slip by to discuss your parents’ expectations, should illness arrive. Find out if they have advance directives – documents that spell out what treatment they would and would not want during a life-threatening health crisis. Make sure you establish who has power of attorney, should they need someone to make important decisions.
“It’s the perfect time to have this kind of conversation,” says Kamilah Williams-Kemp, Northwestern Mutual’s vice president of long-term care. Her spouse’s grandmother lived to 102, and her mother-in-law has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Consider a Reverse Mortgage
Reverse mortgages allow homeowners aged 62 and above to borrow against their home equity and to receive either a lump sum, a series of monthly checks or a line of credit that can be tapped as needed. The upside of a reverse mortgage? With the bank paying you every month, instead of the other way around, that check can help cover costs for in-home caregivers.
Tom Davison, a financial planner in Columbus, Ohio, is working with a 90-year-old woman whose daughter moved in with her as a caregiver. “A reverse mortgage could help (the daughter) pay her the wages she has given up,” Davison said.
Be sure to have proper documentation that the child is actually employed by the parent. If not, and later Medicaid is needed, Medicaid will count each payment to the child for care as a gift, disqualifying the parent from Medicaid. rraabe
The downside, of course: The family home will eventually become property of the bank.
The proceeds from the reverse mortgage can also be converted to an income for life – but NOT like an ordinary annuity which uses your average life expectancy. When health is not good and life expectancy is less than “average” then a company that takes that poor health, and “shorter than average” life expectancy into account gives a much larger monthly payment. rraabe
Get Help
Your first instinct as a child may be to drop everything and handle all your parents’ needs yourself. But if it comes at the cost of your own career, think about the ripple effects – on your retirement savings, on the needs of your own kids, even on your own sanity.
With Americans extending their lifespan – 76.4 years for men, 81.2 years for women, according to the National Center for Health Statistics – this is a family challenge that won’t be going away anytime soon.
Denver financial planner Kristi Sullivan recommends hiring a case manager to do the heavy lifting.
“For an hourly fee, these people can handle tasks quickly that it might take you hours to do – scheduling doctor’s appointments, handling medical payments and dealing with insurance, helping find a good nursing home or in-home care,” Sullivan says. “Spending this money may seem expensive, but it’s less than putting someone’s career on hold to become a full-time caregiver.”
For more strategies, financing options, or ways to deal with the costs of Long Term Care even if not planned for in advance, contact www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Private Industry Has Solutions For Funding Care At Home That ADRC’s Do Not
I attended a dementia hearing recently. Eight Wisconsin legislators were listening to ideas and problems in dealing with dementia in Wisconsin. Many of those testifying spoke of how people will not accept home care because they think they cannot afford it.
People rely on family for help and care because they cannot afford home care. The most common advice these people receive from social workers and ADRC’s is to spend down to impoverishment and end up on Medicaid. In many cases, this means selling the home and moving to a facility with absolutely nothing left at death to pass on. No wonder people are terrified of needing Long Term Care someday.
Private industry has solutions as well, and often times they are completely overlooked. I am not speaking of LTC insurance here, once care is needed it is way too late to be trying to buy insurance. Let me give you an example.
Imagine you are an older American, living in your home (the only real asset you have) with very little money in savings and trying to get by on Social Security. You know you cannot afford to pay $1000 to $2500 a month for home care and so you just try to get along by yourself or with the help of family or friends.
Someone in this position often does not realize they can utilize the one remaining account they still have – Bank of House. A reverse mortgage is not something to go into frivolously, but as a last resort, it can keep you in your home.
You could take out the available money from a reverse mortgage and spend it for care until it is gone, but wouldn’t it be much better if the money lasted as long as you did? There is a way to convert the equity in your home into an income for life – a monthly check to use for home care that continues until the day you die, no matter how long that is.
If you used the proceeds from a reverse mortgage to buy a regular life income annuity, that would probably be a very bad idea. A life income annuity is based on how long the annuity company thinks you will live – based on age and gender. Remember, your health is not the best, you need care, and may not have as long a life span as others of your chronological age who are healthy.
There is one company that takes your poor health, and thus your shorter than average life expectancy into account, and will require far less money in return for that income for life -based on your shorter than average life expectancy – than a regular annuity would. Many times I have been able to convert the equity from the reverse mortgage into enough monthly income to pay for home care and keep people in their homes for the rest of their life.
So, often it comes down to this choice: Sell the house, spend down the money until impoverished, apply for Medicaid, and end up in a LTC facility with nothing left over. Or, take the equity in the home out through a reverse mortgage, and convert it into a life income, paid monthly, for as long as you live. By taking into consideration that your life expectancy is less than other healthy people of your chronological age, you get a bigger income and can pay for the home care you thought you never could afford.
For more information visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com or call me at (920) 884-3030 or (800) 219-9203
Adult Day Care is Great Respite For Caregivers, But They Are Closing Up
Adult day care is a wonderful break for family caregivers. Family can take their loved one to a day care program where care is provided 5 days a week typically, and get a “day off” from caregiving duties.
Caregiving wears people out physically, emotionally, spiritually. Your batteries get drained and then you cannot provide proper support for your loved one, especially if round the clock care is required. There is a reason the airlines tell you to put on your oxygen mask before helping others, if you are worn out, you are no good to anyone else.
Thus, adult day care can provide a respite day, or possibly as many as 5 per week, giving the caregiver a chance to breathe. It may be difficult to secure 5 days per week care, as there are generally waiting lists to get in. This is very popular, and bear in mind that the great majority of LTC services are still provided by family caregivers.
So, why are these places closing up? In Wisconsin, much LTC is provided by a program called Family Care. It was originally designed to use Medicaid dollars to pay for the lowest cost care available for each recipient, instead of using it for the most expensive setting, a skilled nursing facility (nursing home).
Of course, when the government pays for the more desirable assisted living facilities or care in your home, everyone wants in, upping the usage exponentially and raising rather than lowering costs. Spreading the available dollars among more recipients also lowers the dollars available for each one.
So now the reimbursement for adult day care is so low that the adult day care facilities cannot afford to remain open.
But it only costs $45 to $80 per day to pay for adult day care out of pocket, and on a monthly basis of one day a week that is about $200 to $400 per month, surely affordable for many, you would think.
Apparently, the problem is that the families are wanting to save the available funds to use when an assisted living facility is needed. Often times, if you do not have enough funds to pay for assisted living for at least 2 years, the facility may not accept your loved one. This is because once the money runs out and you turn to Medicaid (of which Family Care is part of) the facilities will be losing money on the care.
A LTC facility cannot require you to leave when your funds run out (unless you agreed and signed off on this at admission). It is also not possible to remain open for business if you lose money on every resident. Thus the facilities often require that you have funding available for a period of time before they will admit you. If you have no money other than Medicaid or Family Care you may end up searching far and wide for a facility that will accept you. Will it be the place you want to spend the rest of your years?
For more information, visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Being Stuck In Sandwich Generation Is No Baloney
Reblogged from CNBC
One-time real estate agent Evelyn Rehg was showing a house to a prospective buyer four years ago when an alarming phone call came from the retirement facility where her mother lived.
“They told me I either had to get my mother immediately into a mental hospital or she would be evicted,” said Rehg, 48, of Crestwood, Missouri. “I panicked,” she added. “I didn’t know how to handle it insurance-wise, what hospital to take her to or anything like that.”
Rehg’s mother, 80, suffers from mild dementia, severe anxiety and manic behaviors that now are treated properly. But prior to the phone call, her mom’s anxiety had become so debilitating that she began calling Rehg’s cell phone upward of 200 times a day.
In desperation, Rehg, then still working in real estate, changed her number because she needed her phone for work. So instead, her mother started incessantly calling the front desk at the retirement facility. “They put up with it for about a day and a half,” Rehg said. “Then they called me.”
Rehg also has two children, who were then 12 and 9 and needed supervision and care. That meant that her husband, Jon, had to adjust his work schedule to tend to their needs.
Financial advisors say that in addition to the emotional drain, “sandwichers” may also face a financial burden if they haven’t taken an interest in the steps parents have put in place to ensure they receive proper care.
“It’s important to talk about financial things, but allow your parents some space,” said Rita Cheng, a certified financial planner and chief executive of Blue Ocean Global Wealth.
“You don’t need to be completely involved in their business, because they still want to be independent and in charge,” she said. “But ultimately, if they want to be in charge of how they are cared for, they need to be proactive and plan for it.”
After the call that made it clear that her mom’s condition had deteriorated, Rehg checked her into a mental health facility. It was the first of a handful that Rehg had researched before her mother received a diagnosis and effective medication.
But then her mom fell and broke her arm and spent several months in a rehab center. She then lived in Rehg’s house for about six months, until the situation became too challenging for the whole family.
Rehg, who by then had given up her real estate license, eventually found a suitable assisted-living facility and moved her mother there.
Gregory W. Edwards, a CFP and partner at Lawless Edwards & Warren Wealth Management, is also in the sandwich generation. His father, who had lived next door to him since 2001, died in 2011 after losing his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
His dad was financially well-equipped to pay for his care, but Edwards organized it—and it was complicated, because his father’s wishes stated that he never wanted to be put in a nursing home.
During the last two years of his dad’s life, the cost to care for him in his own home was $7,000 to $8,000 monthly.
Additionally, Edwards and a brother each now give their mother, who was divorced from his father years ago, about $1,800 a month toward her various expenses, medical and otherwise. “People have no idea of what’s coming down the pike when it comes to the cost of care in the last months of life,” he said.
For many sandwichers, the pressures from the parent side outweigh those from the child side.
“The hardest part is feeling overwhelmed and overworked. Sometimes you have to make hard choices and you have to be patient with yourself.”
Rehg said that without her husband, she doesn’t know how she could have managed the situation.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” she said. “At the height of it, I was probably spending 40 hours a week on my mom—paying bills, talking to doctors, visiting her, medicines—and trying to work 30 to 40 hours a week and take care of the house and two kids.”
Cheng at Blue Ocean Global Wealth said that it is a difficult balancing act.
“The hardest part is feeling overwhelmed and overworked,” she said. “I have to give myself permission that I’m only one person and this is stressful. Sometimes you have to make hard choices and you have to be patient with yourself,” Cheng added.
There are strategies that can help no matter what your current situation dealing with LTC. In some cases, even if someone is on Medicaid already there may be ways to help improve the financial situation. Of course, owning a good LTC insurance policy is the best way to have the cash flow to pay for the help you need. For more information visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Why Do Medicare Reductions ($400 Billion) Matter?
Our president wants nursing homes to deliver care much more efficiently and for significantly less over the next ten years. The proposal indicates that Medicare can save $400 Billion over the next 10 years in reimbursements for nursing home recovery care following a hospital stay.
There are also proposals afoot to raise the minimum wage by nearly a third. Nursing home care is overwhelmingly bricks and mortar and minimum wage help. With labor costs going up, more and more utilization as the baby boomers turn 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day, how will Medicare save $400 Billion dollars?
Medicaid already requires impoverishment before it will pay for your Long Term Care. Perhaps the look-back could be extended to 10 years from the current 5 (that has already been introduced in Congress twice, but died in committee). Perhaps a new requirement will be to force reverse mortgaging of the family home before Medicaid eligibility is granted. Many options are on the table, and the result of each idea is less available government money to cover LTC for you and I.
I am fine. I have my LTC insurance policy. Do you? If not, is it because you heard that they are way too expensive? Or have you heard that you must be in perfect health get the coverage? neither of these excuses are valid – if you plan with someone knowledgeable on how LTC actually works.
Imagine if one of a couple becomes laid up and requires day to day care for bathing, dressing, toileting, etc. Will that couple still own two cars and a Harley or a pickup truck and camper? I think not. Will they go to Branson, MO this year? Probably not. Will there be a cruise in their future, I doubt that as well.
When one of a couple needs LTC, the “fun” budget shrinks drastically, or disappears entirely. If a single person requires LTC, they may find themselves “stuck” in the home versus living there, especially if they cannot drive. In that case, an assisted living facility might be less expensive and provide much more social interaction. With the household and auto expenses eliminated, and both of those items converted to cash that can earn interest, one might find themselves able to pay the majority of the monthly bill. It might only require a small addition from a properly sized LTC insurance policy to make up the difference.
That is the benefit of investigating LTC insurance with a specialist who understands the finances of care. Most people will never require a nursing home, but may be able to use an assisted living facility or stay at home with their family. Thus, a policy sized for that will handle the great majority of care situations. Then with health and ages taken into account, the most appropriate company can be priced and voila, reasonable, affordable LTC insurance can save the day.
If, however you wait, wait until your health changes and nobody will insure you, you have waited too long. You need homeowners insurance before the tornado. You need auto insurance before the accident. You need LTC insurance while you are still healthy enough to get it. When your annual physical comes up and the doctor says “I’m going to write a prescriptions for”…….. you know immediately that you waited too long. How long will you wait? Do you feel lucky this year? Do you?
Giving An Engagement Ring for Christmas? Be Aware Of This!
Christmas is a common time to get engaged. A ring doubles as both a wedding proposal and solves the what to give her for Christmas question. Then you can dream in front of the fire this winter, planning a spring wedding.
Financial planners will offer many pieces of advice to new engaged couples, but typically not this piece of advice:
Once you are married, you are one – financially. If you have more assets and your spouse suffers a stroke dancing at the reception (yes it happens, not all newly engaged couples are in their 20’s) you will spend your nest egg paying for the other’s long term care (LTC).
Even many attorneys are not aware of the fact that a prenuptial agreement is not honored by Medicaid, the welfare program that will pay for LTC once you are impoverished. I was called in on a case where an older gentleman, who owned a very valuable farm that his son was farming, married a sweet gal his age. The attorney told him the prenuptial agreement would protect him. When his wife needed LTC, he found out that was not true, and now must sell the farm out from under his son to pay for her care.
While I do have several options to help pay for care once the care has already started, the least expensive strategy is to own LTC insurance. Most people cannot handle a bill of over $100,000 that comes every year. If your funds to pay this come from an IRA, the IRS will be involved as well.
LTC insurance is available up through age 84. I have had many a mature couple in my office to purchase a LTC insurance policy on the one who does not have it yet. When the cost ends up being substantial, the one with the wealth typically says that this must be obtained before the marriage license or all the life’s savings could be spent paying for care and the risk is too great to ignore.
The ideal time to address this is when you are still healthy enough to get LTC insurance. Every year it gets tougher as medical issues that were acceptable years ago, are not anymore. Diabetes leads to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. Bone density loss leads to loss of mobility when the doctors cannot repair the broken hip. Any use of steroid drugs can cause a decline. This is not like the affordable care act where anyone can get the insurance. By 60, a fourth of us can no longer purchase it. On the other hand, cholesterol medication or blood pressure that is controlled is not a concern.
So, if you are in your 40’s or 50’s and healthy, this is the time to investigate. Do it now as a Christmas present for your children. They won’t have to make room for you to move in with them when your health changes. They won’t have to retire early or go part time to care for you. With care provided, they can come visit, versus bathe and dress you. For more information visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Thanksgiving is Coming, How is Your Family Doing?
Thanksgiving comes around every year about this time. Families get together, hopefully getting along. Sometimes it is the one time a year everyone sees how the older members of the family are doing since last year.
For some families, it will be a difficult time when they realize that grandma or grandpa are not as sharp as they used to be. Perhaps it is difficulty in getting around, or driving, or perhaps it is in confusion that seems to be getting worse and frustrating the person no end.
Well, the family is all together, so let’s discuss what to do. Perhaps nobody is willing to start the discussion, ignoring the elephant in the room. Or perhaps someone attempts to make suggestions and is quickly shot down.
Talking about losing independence is never easy. Help may be offered and declined since “I can do it myself”! In any case, some family members can see that a problem is evident and wonder what to do about it.
A big part of searching for solutions is learning what options are available. All sorts of support services exist, to help people in their homes, day care several times a week, or even an assisted living facility. Many of these have pools or hot tubs, and most now offer happy hour one afternoon a week to help with socialization. However, who will bring up the topic and risk the wrath of the loved one you all care about?
All of the options can be expensive. The good news is that only about 15% to 20% of LTC is done in nursing homes now. Home care and assisted living facilities cost half or less than a traditional nursing home. However, $1500 to $4500 per month will strain most budgets or put a large dent in the family funds rather quickly. Perhaps it might be prudent to learn what financing arrangements for LTC services are available.
Medicare does not pay for LTC. Medicaid will, but only once the person has spent-down to impoverishment and cashed in any life insurance. There are other, better options available. LTC insurance, if purchased while still healthy is the least expensive way to address this, but even after the need arises, there are other strategies. In a worst case, there is still the option to move some money to family without Medicaid penalties. You simply need to consult an expert in this area and learn what options can work for you.
More information is available at www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Be Careful About Gifting
The concept of “gifting”, or spreading gifts throughout one’s lifetime, has been a recognized as an effective strategy for reducing estate taxes. But, did you know that there is more to think about “gifting” than how it might impact estate taxes—especially for those people for whom estate taxes are not a concern?
So, what is gifting? Most people understand that gifting can be writing a check to the grandchildren for Christmas or birthdays. Gifting can include paying another’s bills and may even include paying someone to provide services.
For federal gift tax purposes, someone can receive $14,000 per year from an individual giver without being subject to gift taxes. On the other hand, very different rules apply to gifts given in the past five years if one ever needs to ask the government for assistance.
Let’s say a couple gives their daughter $10,000 to purchase or remodel her house. The amount is well under the $14,000 gift tax limit, so should not be a problem, right?
Let’s then say that 4 years later, one of them suffer a stroke, and needs to receive care in a long term care (LTC) facility such as a nursing home or assisted living facility. If they can pay the bill ($3500 – $9000 per month) there is no problem at all. But if they can’t afford such a monthly expense, and savings are insufficient, they may need to apply for Medicaid to pay for the care. Medicaid is the long term care program for the poor, so they will find that there are restrictions on the total amount of money and other assets they can keep on hand. In addition, if they have given assets (e.g., money, land, a business) away in the past five years, those will be considered gifts and the amount will prevent them from receiving Medicaid, once they are impoverished. So, that gift to their daughter will be considered to be an asset they gave away and will impact when they become eligible to receive Medicaid.
Even if they pay someone privately to provide the long term care they need at home, it will be considered a gift when they need to apply for Medicaid unless they have proper documentation. They need documentation to prove that the money paid was for services provided, and not a gift. This is the case regardless of whether the caregiver they pay is a family member or not—there needs to be proper documentation that the money paid is in exchange for care given, or they risk having it considered a gift.
Given all of this, it’s not difficult to understand that the monthly check a parent might give an adult child who is struggling financially would also be considered a gift, as would a child assuming operation and ownership of a family business or farm that is held in the parents’ name.
Medicaid requires documentation of finances from the past five years. All gifts made in this time period will be counted. The total of the gifts is divided by the average monthly cost of a nursing home to determine how long a person could have paid for care, had (s)he not given money (or other assets) away. That is how long they will need to wait to receive Medicaid, even after impoverished. Our government feels that it is unfair to give money away, and then want government funding to cover a budget shortfall.
I have a LTC insurance policy that will, along with my available income and assets, pay for my LTC. If I can pay my bills when due, with my funds or insurance I own, I can make gifts to whomever I please in any amounts I want. I will not have to ever ask the government for help through Medicaid when I need LTC. What about you?
More information is available at www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
More Bad News For The Sandwich Generation – Filial Responsibility Laws
The sandwich generation are the folks who are currently raising teens, paying for school, and taking care of their parents as well. This causes much missed work, missed work opportunities, missed events with children, and general exhaustion. How could you possibly accept a promotion requiring a move when you are taking care of an aged loved one here?
Now there is another worry to consider, Filial Responsibility Laws. 30 states have them and they state that adult children have a duty to provide necessities for parents who cannot do so for themselves. This includes long term care (LTC)!
Here is a list of the states that have such laws: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. If your state is not listed here you are NOT out of the woods. If you have parents living in one of those states, you could become responsible for their bills including the cost of home care, assisted living or a nursing home.
Judges use a number of factors when determining the adult child’s responsibility to cover the indigent parent’s bills. I personally thought I would never see these laws enforced, but California, New York, and Pennsylvania have each had a number of cases.
You may have heard the various rumors of shortfalls in government budgets. You may also be aware that the baby boomers are turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day and will for the next 18 years. Where do you think the money will come from to pay for the LTC these people will need, if they do not have the funds, or insurance to pay their own bills?
You might view this as a way to get even with your kids, like the bumper sticker that says we are spending our children’s inheritance. But do you really want to bankrupt them from their financial security? Perhaps you should investigate LTC insurance for yourselves, if you are still able to qualify for it. for more information, visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com
Protect Mom’s Money
Here is a not untypical situation where Mom needs care and even though Medicaid will soon be needed, some funds can be moved to family.
In our example, Mom is 83 years old and suffering from dementia. She has 2 daughters, one of which is married, the other divorced. The daughters have finally convinced Mom that she will be happier, safer, and better cared for in an assisted living facility. Mom agrees to move in.
The daughters now need to liquidate Mom’s modest house and her car. An estate sale ensues to dispose of the unneeded contents of the house. When all is liquidated, and Mom’s first month is paid for, she retains about $110,000 in her bank account.
If Mom spends down to Medicaid impoverishment, and is left with just $2000 of assets, the daughters will end up paying for Mom’s funeral at death. This is due to the requirement that any life insurance paying more than $1500 at death be “cashed in” and spent to qualify for Medicaid.
However, Mom can put up to $15,000 (varies by state) into an irrevocable burial trust (IBT). These accounts are allowed by Medicaid, there is no 5 year look-back on transfers to an IBT, and the money earns interest until the date of Mom’s death. At that time, the funds are available, by wire transfer, to pay for funeral costs immediately, even before the death certificate has been printed. By comparison, life insurance proceeds are usually not received until 5 weeks or more after death, commonly causing someone to put up a credit card at the funeral home for at least partial payment.
In addition, in many states, Mom can also fund irrevocable funeral spaces trusts for up to $15,000 for each of her children and spouses thereof. The funds will be immediately available for their funeral costs at death, and in the meantime are protected from any creditors, nursing facilities, lawsuits, etc., as they are outside the estate of the beneficiary of such trust. The money is truly protected.
For those of you who thought that all Mom’s money would be spent on her Long Term Care costs, now you know that some funds can be left to family. Of course, preparing for LTC while healthy with a LTC insurance policy is the least expensive way to deal with the care that the Health and Human Services government agency says will be needed by 70% of us. But for those who did not prepare, options exist. For more information visit www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com